by Andi Neal
CHAPTER ONE
Tristan stepped back and dodged the swipe at his midsection. His arm swung across his body with a grunt as he made a strike of his own. He ducked but never saw the leg sweep coming. It took his legs out from under him.
He landed on his back in the dirt with a huff as the breath rushed out of his lungs. The point of a stick came to his throat. Quin’s grinning face appeared in his line of sight overhead. “You’re dead.”
Tristan used his hand to push the stick away and rolled to his hands and knees. “Why can’t I get it?” he complained.
“You are getting it,” Quin disagreed. “You get better every day.”
“Not fast enough,” he muttered.
Quin slashed his stick sword easily through the air. “Walt says you are excelling quickly with the bow. You do not have to worry, Tristan. I give you my word you will be protected.”
“No offense,” Tristan said. “But last time you told me that, one night under the stars turned into over a month, and several men tried to kill me.”
A frown creased Quin’s brow. “You are right. I apologize, Tristan.”
“It wasn’t your fault. Just saying,” Tristan shrugged.
“I should not have pushed you to join Father and I. To leave the safety of the castle,” Quin quickly countered.
Tristan held up a hand to stop him. “I’m not blaming you. No one was expecting to be betrayed. Let’s just say I want to learn this in case something else unexpected pops up. I need to be able to protect myself.” Then a smile touched his lips. “At least until you can get there to save my butt.”
But Quin didn’t return the smile. “It is you who saved me and my family.”
Tristan scrunched his face up as though he smelled something foul and snorted. “Yeah, right. Kale saved you. I just busted you out of prison after the fact. A month later, I might add. And Kale and Xander are the ones who took out all the guards when we went for your family.”
Quin stepped forward and laid a hand on Tristan’s shoulder. “Kale would not have been able to protect me much longer, and I would not have survived. You saved us. I am deeply in your debt.”
Tristan grinned. “You know, your family keeps saying that to me. You guys are racking up quite the debt to me.”
This time Quin smiled. “Yes, we are.”
“Will you name a castle after me?” Tristan teased as they walked back from their designated training area.
Quin laughed. “I will build you your own castle, and you may name it whatever you choose.”
“Sweet!” Tristan exclaimed.
Quin was still laughing as they came upon Rhea and Shaylin. “Tristan has decided that he would like his own castle, and it shall be named after him,” he announced.
Rhea smiled. “Castle Tristan.”
“Hey,” Tristan wiggled his brow. “I like the sound of that. It has a nice ring to it.”
“It does indeed,” she agreed with a chuckle.
Tristan’s gaze moved past them to Kale across the courtyard. He was in a deep discussion with Duke Adler. Rhea followed the direction that his attention had shifted. “I’m beginning to think they enjoy arguing,” she told him.
He tapped the stick he held against the outside of his thigh. “Is there a problem?”
“It is my hope,” Rhea said. “That you will not have to worry over these matters anymore.”
He sighed. “I feel like I should be doing more,” he muttered.
“More?” Shaylin gaped at him. “More than you have already done?”
Rhea nodded in agreement. “You have already done more than should ever have been asked of you.”
Kale abandoned Adler and approached them. “Adler insists that Fagan and Heremon are on our side. He is right that they will make strong allies.”
“Who are Fagan and Heremon?” Tristan asked.
“Dukes with land on the sea in the west,” Quin answered. His brow furrowed in thought. “You think their guard will join us?” he asked Kale. “With more guard on our side, we could take back Castle Lochlain.”
“How do we know who we can trust?” Tristan continued to tap the stick he’d kept against his leg, the taps growing along with his agitation.
“We will have to take the risk that goes with finding out,” Kale told him. “I believe we can trust them.”
“You told me I could trust your guard,” Tristan pointed out.
Annoyance flashed in Kale’s eyes. Before he could make a retort, Quin stopped him with a hand on his chest. Quin addressed Tristan’s concerns. “We cannot do this alone. We need the support of Barico’s dukes.”
“What’s a duke?” Tristan tossed his stick aside. “What do they do?”
“Barico is divided into regions,” Rhea explained in a soothing tone as she could sense his unease. “Each region is overseen by a duke. There are six regions in Barico. Five are seen to by the king’s appointed dukes.”
Quin took over the explanation. “Each duke is a man of a noble bloodline that is seen as loyal to the king.”
“So these dukes change with every king?” Tristan asked.
Rhea shook her head. “Just as the throne can remain in a single bloodline for several generations, so can the seats of a duke remain in one family so long as that family remains loyal to the king.” She hesitated before conceding. “It can be very difficult to unseat a duke once he is placed as each duke is assigned a division of the royal army. He also claims the loyalty of the region’s people.”
Tristan met her gaze. “So just like Duke Adler has a thousand strong men, all the other dukes have men to protect their regions?”
“Proportionate to their regions, yes,” Quin confirmed.
“So basically, there are six divisions in your army,” Tristan concluded. “One for each duke and then the royal guard assigned to the king and Castle Lochlain.”
Kale nodded. “The king’s is obviously the largest and most powerful, but if you combine the duke’s divisions, you could overtake the royal guard.”
Tristan frowned. “You’re assuming you have all five dukes in your corner. You’ve only named three that you claim are loyal to Quin as the king of Barico.”
“My father is the fourth duke of Barico,” Rhea told him. “But when he was arrested, his guard was reclaimed by the king…as was his region. Penley named his own appointment outside the family to that region’s seat.”
“Don’t these men have minds of their own?” Tristan scowled. “If they knew the truth, they wouldn’t follow Penley’s command.”
Quin shook his head. “Penley has a history with the guard. Connections. And he is providing generous compensation for the captains and generals that accept him as their new king.” His eyes flicked to his mother’s momentarily. “And a soldier’s rebellion against his captain or general is an act of treason…punishable by not only his death but that of his family’s as well.”
“What of the fifth duke?” Tristan reminded them. “You said there were five.”
Kale and Quin exchanged a weary look. Kale answered. “Duke Brogan. He was the duke of Innswick in the north that we were riding to aid when we were attacked.”
Quin continued. “One of Adler’s messengers brought back news of Brogan.” His head dropped in near defeat. “Duke Brogan is dead. Murdered by the raiders that ransacked his region along with many of his loyal guard. Penley has assigned his own duke to that region as well. They are not our allies.”
“So let me just see if I have this straight,” Tristan requested. “We have three dukes, equally about three thousand men…and Penley has the royal guard, two dukes, and a band of Northern raiders that are quite fierce as I learned from experience?”
Tristan looked at each person in their conference circle in turn. None responded to his depressing summary, but he saw the truth of it in each of their eyes. He slowly nodded. “Well, that’s unfortunate.”
“It is unlikely the Northern raiders are still within our borders or that they will return,” Kale interjected. “
They have fulfilled the request made of them and most likely been rewarded already from the royal treasury.”
Tristan stared at Kale for several moments. “Huh.” He turned from all of them and walked away.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andi Neal is an action/adventure thriller author. She currently lives in northern Georgia as an enthusiastic and passionate University of Alabama fan. A fall Saturday will undoubtedly find her parked in front of the TV cheering fervently for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Her love of reading led to a passion for writing while she was attending Berea College. She enjoys traveling and experiencing new people and places. While at Berea, she had the amazing opportunity of traveling abroad to four countries in Europe, as well as two in South America. Since then, work has taken her to several cities in China.
Follow Andi on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/andinealnovels
Other Books by Andi Neal:
Unraveled
Race Against Madness
Progeny Novels:
Angel’s Isle
The Refuge
Kingdom of Destiny Short Story Series
Reign of Resurgence: The Advantage